The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has asked the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed to apologise to Nigerians over his “unfounded security breach” allegation against the PDP and its presidential candidate for the February 23, 2019 poll, Atiku Abubakar.
The PDP argued that the minister’s allegation that the PDP and Atiku were plotting to subvert the government was misleading and capable of heating up the nation’s polity.
The PDP, in a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Mohammed’s assurance on Monday, that the nation was safe for the presidential inauguration on May 29, showed that the PDP and Atiku had nothing against the presidential inauguration.
“By his fabricated claims, the Information Minister only succeeded in further de-marketing our dear nation in the international arena, causing more damage to investors’ confidence in our system and exposing this administration as purveyor of fake news.
“It is indeed, lamentable that in its desperation to secure acceptance from Nigerians and confer legitimacy to the outcome of a rigged election, the Buhari administration would manufacture and purvey fake news to the public, only for Nigerians to learn from the same Minister of Information and Culture, that his earlier claims against the PDP and our presidential candidate were not based on any concrete evidence but, according to him, on having ‘no reasons to doubt’ claims by other individuals.
“It is now clear that the whole essence of the misleading allegation was to heat up the system, attempt to cow democratic voices, divert public discourse from the rigging of the Presidential election and scare the PDP and our Presidential candidate from pursuing our stolen Presidential mandate at the court.
“We also have fears that Alhaji Lai Mohammed could have made those wild claims in a bid to pave the way to frame, harass, arrest and detain some opposition figures on trump-up charges.
“Such antics have failed as Nigerians have seen through them and are resolute, behind Atiku Abubakar, in the determination to retrieve his mandate in the court, and no form of blackmail and intimidation will detract him from that resolve.
“The PDP therefore, invites Alhaji Lai Mohammed to apologize to the nation and desist from such acts of incitement,” the PDP said.
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